Fed again pledges to hold rates at record-lows

WASHINGTON — With the recession apparently over, the
Federal Reserve today held a key interest rate at a record low
and again pledged to keep it there for an "extended period" to foster
the fragile economic recovery.

The Fed said economic activity has
"continued to pick up" and that the housing market also has grown
stronger, a key ingredient to a sustained recovery.

But Fed
Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues warned that rising joblessness
and hard-to-get-credit for many people and companies could restrain the
rebound in the months ahead.

Against that backdrop, the Fed kept
the target range for its bank lending rate at zero to 0.25 percent.
That means commercial banks' prime lending rate, used to peg rates on
home equity loans, certain credit cards and other consumer loans, will
stay at about 3.25 percent, the lowest in decades.

The Fed made
no major changes to a program to help drive down mortgage rates and
support the housing market. The central bank did say it will trim its
purchases of debt from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $175 billion, from
$200 billion, because the supply of that debt has declined.